Compensating drive for concentric cylinders or mills.



, A. .I WEST. COMPENSATING DRIVE FOR CONCENTRIC CYLINDERS 0R MILLS. APPLICATION FILED MAY 9. 1912.

1,144,272., Patented June 22, 1915.

V2 SHEETS-SHEET I. 3 Q f A. L. WEST.

COMPENSATING DRIVE FOR CONCENTRIC CYLINDERS 0R MILLS.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 9. 1912.

1,144,272. Patenteahm 1915.

2SHEETS-SHEET 2.

...ililIl guna-mov M KW nisms of the ABRAHAM LINcoLN WEST, or NEWARK, NEW JERSEY.

co'MPENsATrNG nRivE Een coNoENrmc CYLINDEES on MILLS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

@Patented June 7a2, 1915.,

Application led May 9, 1912. Serial No. 696,193.

To all whom t may concern Be 'it known that I, ABRAHAM LINCOLN WEsT, a citizen of the United States, residing in the city of Newark, in the county of Essex and State of New Jersey, have invented a new and useful Compensating Drive for Concentric Cylinders or Mills, of which the following is a specification.

rll`his invention relates to mills generally, but more particularly to ,power driven rotatable mills and analogous appliances employing hollow working receptacles barrels or drums `for inclosing the material or materials operated upon, such for example as tube mills, pebble mills, ball mills, grit mills, triturating mills, Crushers, grinders, pulverizers, screens, v tumbling barrels, driers, roasters, mixers, churns, and all mechanisms employing like principles of operation.

It is a well recognized fact that mechac'haracter indicated, when 'charged and in o eration, have to contend with what will e ereinafter be termed a suspended or extended load, by which is meant that portion revolving Working receptacle which is always upon the up side, or side revolving upward, and consequently the heavier side of the receptacle. When properly charged such `receptacles are only partly lilled by the material operated upon, together with the balls, pebbles, grit or other polishing, 'grinding ormixing agents employed, so that, as they. are rotated upward the load is constantly carried outward and upward, in the same direction thatthereceptacles revolve,

which results in a load extended or suspended to vone side of the axial center of each receptacle, of an amount regulated and determined by the weight of the load in the particular receptacle or receptacles, and .proportionate to the same. That is to say, while the receptacle is revolving all particles which go to makeup its contents continually climb to the up side thereof until the natural'an'gle' of repose is passed when they as lnaturally gravitate to the bottom, at an angle of approximately forty 'five degrees; so long, therefore as this angle, 'or approximately this angle, of the load line is maintained it is quite obvious that the balance of weight is materially to one side' of the axial center of the receptacle'an'd must be ver'corhe by the rotating means.

, amount of of the contents of each' mechanism is thrown into One object of this invention therefore, isy to provide means for overcoming and utilizing the suspended or extended load of mills and mill receptacles, by employing the aforesaid overbalanced wei ht to induce, or assist in a downward axia rotation of the main supporting frame upon its heavier side, thereby greatly economizing the mill as a whole.

Another object of the invention is to provide means whereby the dead load of a mill of the character indicated, may be started with an expenditure of horse power approximately commensurate with that required to continue it in operation, and with- 'out the necessity of providing an excess of power to be used at the moment of starting.

further object is to provide means power required to operate the whereby the prime mover, or driving power,

may be relieved of a portion of its load at the moment of starting the'mill, and at all times, by causing the suspended or extended load in each of'the Working receptacles aforesaid/to assist in the rotation of the main Isupporting frame, and to thereby transmit such rotary motion back to the driving gears ofthe prime mover.

further object is to provide means whereby the driving power may be given full speed, if desired, before the maximum -of power is actually required, that is to say the supporting frame and all-workingre'- ceptacles may at the outstart be rotated coll'ectively or in cluster at full speed of the motor, before certain auxiliary driving action for the purpose of imparting to the working receptacles independentrotary motion. AWhereas mills of the characterreferred to must ordinarily be started at low speed and gradually in'creased to the maximum speed requ1red.,-These, together with other objects and advantages of the presentinvention, will nowbecome apparent to persons skilled in the art to which it relates,`and to all such uses I lay 'claim vthe same as if herein specifically 'pointed but. E

The invention -will be ihereinafter particularly described and pointed out in the claims following.

In the accompanying drawings which form pa'rt ofthis application for Letters Patent, and whereon corresponding nuthree Aof a series of working receptacles pivotally carried by said frame. Fig. 2 is an end elevation of parts shown by Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a transverse vertical section of the mill taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1 looking toward the driving gears, diagrammatic view indicating directions of rotation, the centers of rotation both axial and orbital of the working receptacles, and the constantly shifting center of gravity of the overbalancing portion of the load' in each of said receptacles.

Reference being had to the drawings and numerals thereon, 1 indicates a stationary foundation-frame pedestal or piers of any approved form or material upon which the mill as a whole is supported. Mounted upon this foundation 1 isa vertically rotatable su porting frame, comprising faceplates or aine head plates 2, 2 suitably connected by distance pieces or struts (not shown), and journaled at their axial centers upon-bearings such as 3, 3. One of said face-plates2 is provided with-a peripheral gear 4 by means of which the frame is adapted to be driven or rotated, while between said plates are axially journaled, in independent bearings, a plurality of working cylinders 5 bypreference of cylindrical form having closed ends, suitable charging doors 6, and each provided with a peripheral driven gear 7, as shown by Figs. 1, 2 and 3.

Meshing with aforesaid, is a central driving pinion 8 keyed to a main-driving shaft 9 extending loosely through the center hub of one faceplate 2 to the outer or the other of said face-plates, and provided also with a larger gear 10 intermediate of its bearings 3, 11, as best shown by Fig. 1. Meshing constantly with said gear 10 is a driving pinion 12 carried by a countershaft 13 mounted in journal bearings 14, 14 and equipped with an ordinary driving pulley 15 to which a belt may be attached in any approved manner for transmitting power from an engine or other prime mover (not shown) in the usual manner. The s'aid parts 15, 13, 12, 10, 9 and 8 constituting what may be termed the main driving'mechanism.

Journaled in suitable bearings 16, 16 is an auxiliary or compensating drive shaft 17, providedat one end with a pinion 18 running into the peripheral gear 4 of faceplate 2, hereinbefore mentioned; and intermediate of bearings 16, 16 upon said shaft 17 is alarger gear wheel 19 adapted to run loosely'upon this shaft, or to be fixed with relation thereto by agency of a manually and, Fig. 4 is a all of the driven gears .7

opposite bearings of.

operated clutch 20 in the well understood manner. The parts last described constituting an auxiliary driving mechanism for purposes which will now appear in a brief statement of operation.

The herein disclosed embodiment of the present invention having been constructed substantially as shown and described, working receptacles 5 are first partially filled through their respective charging doors Power is then applied, at full speed and full capacity of the engine or motor if desired, to pulley 15, pinion'12`, and, gear 10 'thereby rotating the main driving shaft 9 kand with it the concentrically positioned driving pinion 8 in the direction indicated in Fig. 3 by the arro At this stage of the operation, the gear wheel 19 of the auxiliary driving mechanism, meshing with the intermediate gear 10, runs loosely Aupon coinpensating shaft 17 so lon as clutch 20 is disconnected, and is 'una ected by the rotation of pinion 18 or said shaft 17 until such time as the clutch 20 is thrown. in. As a consequence there is little or no resistance to the rotation of gear 4 and face plates 2 of the rotatable supporting frame,

while on the contrary rotation of each individual working receptacle 5 is resisted by the weight of its contents, and as theyresult said supporting frame and`receptacles are driven collectively, or incluster, around shaft 9, as indicated by the feathered arrow in Figs. 3 and 4, under influence of the main driving mechanism until said frame has obtained full speed.

Clutch 20 is now thrown into action thus locking gear 19 with relation to the driving pinion 18 upon compensating shaft 17, whereupon the aforesaid rotation of said supporting frame is subjected to a resistance greater than that of the individual receptacles 5, which, following the line of least resistance, now begin to revolve upon their respective axes in the direction indicated by unfeathered arrows in Figs. 3 and 4, while at the same time performing a comparatively slow orbital movement about the axial center of their supporting frame, That is to say when the main driving shaft 9 and pinion 8 revolve to the right or clockwise, as indicated by arrow upon the back of said pinion 8 (Fig. 3) the intermeshing gears 7 and theiry respective working receptacles 5 will revolve to the left or counter clockwise, as indicated by the unfeathered arrows in Figs. 3 and 4. And, obviously, this action of the individual receptacles causes a displacement of the suspended or extended load in all of said receptacles, to the upside or ri ht hand side of each as clearly shown by Fig. 3 (which it will be remembered is ceptacles 5 away from their natural centers of balance, each in the samedirection, and causing an overbalancing of the entire revolving frame in 'which they are pivotally supported. In other words that portion of the load in each receptacle 5 represented by dotted lines a-bc, in diagrammatic Fig. et, is in a state of equilibrium, or balance; while that portion of the load in each of said receptacles represented by the dotted lines c-a-d is always at one side of the natural vertical center of balance. of the supporting frame or face-plates 2, and tending constantly to' rotate same in\the direction indicated by the feathered arrow. So that while the actual centers of said receptacles 5 perform an orbital movement around the axis of said face plates upon the dotted line the center of gravity of that overbalancing portion of the load in each receptacle marked c- -d moves in a circle g/ eccentric to the circle and always to one side thereof, thereby throwing the weight of the entire supporting frame out of balance approximately one half of the total load of the several receptacles so as to induce rotation thereof in the direction of the feathered arro Obviously this rotary'movement of the supporting frame and its attached peripheral gear 4, causes said gear to bear heavily upon pinion 18 of the compensating shaft l thus transmitting power through gears 19 and l0 back to the prime mover, or more properly speaking counterbalancing or reducing the load which it is required to drive. aving thus described my invention it should beunderstood that I do not confine myself to the particular form and arrangement of parts hereinbefore set forth, but on the contrary lay claim to any and all modifications capable ofproducing the aforesaid results, and likewise to all mechanical equivalents of the parts and elements shown, either in respect to the power producing and power transmitting means, the location and form of the gears or equivalent parts employed, and the relative direction vof rotation of the moving parts. And while I have herein illustrated and. described a single charge mill or dump mill 'of the closed typeprovided with doors 6 for purposes of charging and discharging, it is quite obvious that the invention is equally applicable to mills of thecontinuous feed and discharge type, that is to say, mills which are'continuously supplied at or near one end and as continuously discharged at or near the other.

What I claim and ters Patent, therefore, is:

In mechanism of the character indicated the combination with a vertically rotatable supporting frame and a plurality of working receptacles carried by said frame of main driving mechanism for rotating sai worln'ng receptacles, and an independently operable auxiliary driving mechanism for rotating said frame than that of the working receptacles.

2. In mechanism of the character indicated the combination with a vertically rotatable supporting frame and a plurality of working receptacles carried by said frame, of separate driven elements carried by said receptacles, main andl auxiliary drivin mechanisms for rotating said receptacles an supporting frame respectively, and a clutch or disconnecting said main and auxiliary mechanisms.

3. In mechanism of the character indicated the combination with a verticallyrotatable supporting frame provided with a driven gear and a plurality of working receptacles carried by said frame each provided with a driven gear, of main driving mechanism forl rotating said working receptacles, a central pinion intermeshing with the driven gears of all of said receptacles, and an auxiliary driving mechanism actuated by said main driving gear and comprising a driving pinion meshing with the driven gear upon said rotatable supporting frame.

4. In mechanism of the character indicated the combination with a vertically rotatable supporting frame provided with a driven gear and a plurality of working receptacles carried by said frame each provided with a driven gear havinr an axial movement with relatlon to that o said supporting frame, of main driving mechanism comprising a driving pinion meshing with the gears of all of said receptacles, an auxiliary driving mechanism including a driving pinion meshing with the gear upon said supporting frame, means for transmitting power from'said main to said auxiliary driving mechanisms, and a clutch for disconnecting said auxiliary driving mechanism.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

y A. LINCOLN wnstr. A vWitnesses:

WM. E. DAVENPORT, THOMAS W. FRAMPTON.

desire to secure by Let-r at a less angular speed 

